It’s hard NOT to trip across old pictures and postcards of Rhinebeck; they seem like they are scattered about everywhere. I’ve been collecting them, and anything else related to Rhinebeck, for some time now. I wrote my second (of five) books, Rhinebeck’s Historic Beekman Arms, back in 2014. If you are interested in Rhinebeck history (not just the BA), I urge you to read it as it has what I consider some real groundbreaking early Rhinebeck research in it. You’ll get the fact-based history, as far as records and artifacts can tell, not what is printed on restaurant menus today. (I’ve uncovered a few more details over the years so a minor update will come when I can find the time.) 

Through that effort, I covered a lot of ground and amassed a sizable collection…only to have it later sit on my computer and in boxes in my closet. (I’ve donated some to the RHS already, like the newspaper whose header I use above. That’s a December 25, 1849 Rhinebeck Gazette, the only one I’ve ever found with the early BA (then the Rhinebeck Hotel) image on it.) Anyway, I figured, why not just get some of what I had out to the public?

I know I’m surely not the first person in the last 100 years to look at these old cards and wonder about them. At least some of the research I’ve done (to find locations, attach histories) I know must have been done before. The problem is, it’s just not out there, ANYWHERE, for the curious. There are no books, websites, video lectures, – really nothing that I could find. I don’t participate in facebook or instagram or any of that, so if it’s there, not everyone is seeing it. What I hoped to do is just make a no-frills, easy to remember, place to go if you ever needed this kind of information. (The URL is historicrhinebeck.org, which is very similar to the Red Hook Historical Society website, historicredhook.org. I was surprised no one had already claimed it – and happy to give to the RHS if they want it.)

This project, if I keep it up, will more than likely go through a few phases of optimization. I definitely missed on some of the locational shots (that “exact spot” goal was challenging), so I welcome contributions by anyone who can get the picture locations better (and of course you will be fully credited). While my collection spans quite a lot of material, it can hardly be considered definitive. I’m sure there are a few more great cards out there. Please do let me know if you have any that I missed. The next step might be to work with the RHS and MRH to incorporate some of their pictures or maybe just have the RHS take this over and have them use however they want. I just wanted to get something out there to get the ball rolling.

As far as the comments I provide, you’re just getting what I could easily (and accurately) come up with. There’s so much depth to some of the history, it just goes beyond the scope of this simple site. I’ll keep trying to improve these. For what I have, I relied on my own research, wiki (in some rare cases), and on Nancy Kelly’s quite outstanding book “Rhinebeck’s Historic Architecture.” If you live in Rhinebeck and don’t have that book, go out and get a copy. The history of some of these old buildings is fascinating. Sari Tietjen’s 1990 book, “Rhinebeck, Portrait of a Town,” is equally well done and very useful.

Besides just good fun, the end game in all of this is to get more people interested and knowledgeable in the history of Rhinebeck. It’s a very unique town for so many reasons. I am looking for help/board members to support my more tangible local project, the reconstruction of the circa 1730 Col. Henry Beekman Gristmill, in what is now Legion Park. Click on this link or on the logo below to see my other website (www.beekmanmillproject.org) for more information. Getting that done would be a real benefit to the town/village and to the many future generations of residents and visitors to Rhinebeck.

So please do enjoy, and I hope to interact with a few of you over time. Reach me at admin[at]historicrhinebeck.org or through any officer at the Rhinebeck Historical Society. (This project is independent of them, I’m just an active member.)

Your most humble servant,